The subject matter described herein relates generally to wind turbines and, more particularly, to a wind turbine tower and a system and method for fabricating or making a wind turbine tower.
Many known wind turbines include a tower and a rotor mounted on the tower via a nacelle. The rotor includes a number of blades that facilitate converting wind energy into rotational energy. The rotor drives a generator through a gearbox via a rotor shaft, and the gearbox steps up the inherently low rotational speed of the rotor shaft such that the generator can convert the mechanical energy to electrical energy.
Because many known wind turbines are subjected to harsh environmental conditions, wind turbine towers are often reinforced (e.g., with steel) to facilitate increasing the structural integrity of the wind turbine. However, at least some wind turbines are utilized in wet environments (e.g., offshore wind farms), and the increased moisture has been known to contribute to corrosion of the wind turbine towers and/or the wind turbine tower reinforcements. As such, it would be useful to provide a wind turbine tower that is less susceptible to corrosion while maintaining the structural integrity of the wind turbine tower, thereby increasing the useful life of the wind turbine.